


February 2nd: National Hedgehog Day

by WhisperingMagpie



Series: Prompts [7]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Gen, Weechesters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-19
Updated: 2016-12-19
Packaged: 2018-09-09 21:48:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8914126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhisperingMagpie/pseuds/WhisperingMagpie
Summary: @djinndreamsam Sam and Dean celebrating something small and mundane- like, how there’s all those random little holidays every day? They pick a few of those to celebrate because they deserve to have things to be happy about and birthdays/Christmas have too many bad memories attached.





	

On the way into town, Dean spots a quaint little animal shelter. He files it away for things to do once Dad’s gone. Sammy will love it.

Dad’s barely an hour out of town before Dean plops down on the edge of his little brother’s bed. “Hey, wanna do something fun? Way more fun than watching TV or reading musty old books you’ve read a million times.”

Little Sammy is barely eight years old, but he knows the rules. “We can’t, Dean. Dad said we can’t leave the motel.” He peers up over his book, a frown in his eyes.

Dean just gives him a mischievous smile. “Dad doesn’t have to know. He’s gonna be gone for a week. We’ll be fine, I promise. Not gonna let anything happen.” He climbs off the bed and holds out a hand, beckoning.

Sam sighs and bookmarks his page with a scrap of paper from the motel stationary and takes Dean’s hand, following him to the door. They put on their shoes and coats, and Dean locks the door behind them, making sure to check the salt line before they leave.

Sam hangs onto his big brother’s hand, looking around nervously as they walk up the street and turn a corner. They walk about twenty minutes before Dean points out a low old wooden building. He tugs Sam along before he even has a chance to read the sign out front.

Inside, they’re greeted by the sounds of many animals twittering and chirping and yowling in cages. Sam blinks around slowly before letting go of Dean’s hand to investigate the nearest cage. Inside, he finds a blue jay huddled in the corner with a bandaged wing. He frowns and looks up to find Dean standing behind him.

“Its an animal shelter, Sammy. The people here take care of wild animals and then return them to the forest. While they’re here, the public can look at them and learn about them.”

Sam nods and goes back to studying the blue jay before moving along to peer into the other cages. He looks up when he hears a commotion down the line and follows it to where a bunch of kids are huddled around a woman. He wedges his way into the crowd.

“Most people think today is Groundhog Day, but some countries used to celebrate Hedgehog Day instead. Back in the ancient Roman times, they looked to hedgehogs to see if Spring would come early.” The lady says, and now that Sam is closer, he can see she holds a little spikey ball, wearing some heavy duty gloves. “If everyone will take a seat in a circle, I’ll let this little guy sniff around.”

Sam sits crosslegged between two other kids and watches as she puts the little spiney creature in the middle. “Ssssh, stay still and he’ll come out. But don’t touch. His quills are very sharp,” she warns.

After a minute of hushed whispers, the ball shifts and a little wiggling nose and beady black eyes peeks out. Some of the children squeak in surprise and the hedgehog curls up again. The woman smiles and puts a finger to her lips. “Careful, he’s scared of all us big humans.”

When everyone is quiet again, the hedgehog slowly unrolls and starts to sniff around the circle, hesitant to get too close. Sam can see that it has a few scratches on its face. He can’t imagine any predators wanting to get close to it. Maybe something thought it was big enough to not get stuck by the quills.

Sam lets his fingertips slowly touch the ground as the hedgehog comes around to him, and smiles as it sniffs him before moving on.

“Hedgehogs may look tough, but they have one weakness, their soft bellies. Thats why he was rolled up into a ball, to protect himself,” The woman says, continuing on about where they’re found, and what they like to eat. Sam stops listening as he watches the little creature nosing around, looking for a space between their feet to escape the circle.

The hedgehog kind of reminds him of Dean. His big brother who acts so tough on the outside, but when they’re safe, when Dad or Bobby aren’t around, Dean sometimes lets his guard down, shows his vulnerable belly, so to speak. He makes jokes with Sam, plays games with him, and most importantly, watches out for him. Sam is his weak spot.

Sam likes that soft side of Dean most of all.


End file.
